Scizor's ability to raise increase its Defense, Attack and Speed by two stages in a single turn, combined with its typing and already sturdy defenses, allows Scizor to easily pass off various boosts to other team members. The EVs generate 203 Speed outrunning 270 Speed Choice Scarfed Pokémon after one Agility. Substitute is a viable option if your team is built around Baton Passing as Substitutes can block status as well as any unexpected critical hits. X-Scissor and Iron Head are both strong STAB attacks but are only reccommended to prevent Scizor from struggling in the event of a Taunt.
Thanks to Technician, Scizor's Choice Band Pursuit is almost as powerful as Tyranitar's so you can expect to do some serious damage to fleeing enemies. Brick Break easily 2HKOs Heatran, Empoleon and Infernape. Quick Attack is great for finishing off faster enemies. Double Hit screws around with Substitute users, particularly weaker ones like Ninjask and Jolteon, who both die from the second hit. Aerial Ace isn't much use here, as Iron Head is a likely OHKO on most Heracross. The EVs generate 229 Speed to outrun nearly all bulky Gyarados, Gliscor and, of course, neutral Tyranitar.
The EVs generate 223 (334) Speed to outrun Jolly Garchomp. Iron Head is handy for a flinch now and then, but you will be using U-turn for the most part to scout switches. Brick Break is the better choice for type coverage, but Aerial Ace will destroy Heracross in one hit, which is always a useful asset.
Metal Claw corresponds with Technician, and has a 10% chance to provide an Attack boost, although Iron Head has a handy 30% flinch rate. If you choose Iron Head, Swarm is the recommended ability as it will let Scizor get in a couple of boosted hits with X-Scissor after Life Orb takes its toll. Brick Break covers Heatran and is Scizor's best attack against Infernape, Skarmory, Empoleon and other assorted Steel-types. If you want more than 203 Speed, take EVs from HP.
This is a strange looking but effective late game sweeper. Technician Quick Attack deals more than you might think, after a Swords Dance. The last slot depends on what type coverage you prefer. X-Scissor deals with Slowbro, Metagross and Swampert, but Iron Head is almost a OHKO on Weezing after one Dance and also hurts Ghosts. Brick Break covers Steel Pokémon, and beats Skarmory (Scizor is slower) if it uses Roost. This set benefits greatly from Stealth Rock support, to wear down the likes of Zapdos and Gyarados until they are in the kill range of Quick Attack.
While this set plays similarly to its Heracross cousin, Scizor has some capabilities that Heracross lacks. Among these are Scizors wonderful typing which lets him to come into many OU threats and scare them off, giving him a free substitute—his immunity to Sandstorm, allowing Scizor to use this set better than Heracross—and his above average Defensive stats which allow him to weather stronger attacks. X-Scissor should be its main form of attack. With Swords Dance and Swarm, X-Scissor becomes incredibly powerful. Iron Head is a good STAB move for Scizor, but Brick Break is also mentioned so that you can actually hit Heatran and other Steels for some damage. Baton Pass is also an option if you do get walled by something that you can continue your offense by passing off your Attack and Speed boosts to a healthier teammate. Reversal is a good option for this set, but the popularity of Stealth Rock will put a wrench in your plans. If you plan on using Reversal, be sure to have a spinner to take care of Spikes and Stealth Rock. Brick Break is listed as a main option for reliability and consistency. If you also don't like the idea of using Substitute, Endure goes great with Reversal allowing you to get right at 1% and making sure Reversal is hitting at 200 BP. Unfortunately, with an overabundance of priority moves, Scizor is treading on thin ice if he uses Endure. If you opt for Endure, try and bring out Scizor late game and remove any pokemon that may have priority moves.
This set, tailored specifically for the Ubers metagame, combines many of Scizor's new toys gained in the transition from Advance to DP. It homes in on the high amount of physically frail Psychic-types and hits them for super effective with either a STAB U-Turn if they choose to stay in or a boosted Pursuit if they decide to switch out. The EVs have been placed in Special Defense to lessen the amount of damage Scizor will take when coming in against threats like Latias, Mewtwo and Darkrai. With the recommended investment and it's fantastic typing, Scizor will be shrugging off Dragon and Dark Pulses from Latias and Darkrai, respectively. It can even survive Mewtwo's Choice Specs boosted Flamethrower in the rain. However if Scizor is being backed by the rain, beware of Thunder coming from either of the Lati twins as both are capable of dealing a 2HKO. Life Orb helps balance Scizor's offensive and defensive capabilities making up for the sizable investment in his defenses. Alongside the 100 Attack EVs, Scizor's U-Turn has a large chance of OHKOing standard Mewtwo, Latias and Darkrai unless the trio invest a ridiculous amount of EVs in defense. Furthermore, the boost from Technician allows Pursuit to harass and mind game an opponent who keeps their Latias or Mewtwo in. Even without the Technician boost a super effective, powered-up Pursuit will almost certainly finish off the aforementioned pair, if they are switching out and are below 80% health. Naturally Pursuit won't be doing too much to Darkrai regardless of whether it stays in or switches out. Finally the small investment in Speed allows you to outpace and trap Shedinja before it has a chance to burn you with Will-O-Wisp (unless, of course, said Shedinja is equipped with a Focus Sash). The choice for Move 4 is debatable, Quick Attack gets a boost from Technician and allows you to finish off any weakened pokemon. Quick Attack, together with Pursuit allows you to take out Deoxys-A without taking a hit if you predict right. On the other hand, Light Screen furthers Scizor's role in supporting the team from special attackers. Expert Belt is an option as the moves in this set are designed to hit for super effective damage. However this is still quite a significant drain on the power boost you'll receive with Life Orb. Overall Life Orb is more often than not the superior choice, but Expert Belt can be used if you're worried about the stacking residual damage. This set is also viable in OU, and is quite capable of handling threats like Gengar and Starmie. Other OptionsScizor does not have much of a movepool. It can use Reversal, and has the advantage of being immune to Sandstorm, but Lucario is a better choice for that strategy, since it gets STAB. Protect could be useful at times, for Leftovers recovery, and scouting Fire attacks. Light Screen is nice for support purposes, as Scizor draws in a lot of special attackers. Thief / Fling could annoy opponents, but is a rather gimmicky option. Brick Break is another option in the Trapper set as it allows Scizor to more effectively damage Blissey and Dialga in Ubers, while shattering any Reflects that may have been laid down as protection from Pursuit. However, it is not suggested over any of Scizor's other moves as the coverage is mostly redundant otherwise. Occa Berry can allow Scizor to survive a Fire attack. EVsFor offensive sets, you should really run Adamant, maximize Attack, and use a magic Speed number. The remainder should be dumped into either Defense or HP. For support and Baton Pass movesets, you should aim for something more defensive. Jolly is a welcome option on the Choice Scarf set. With Jolly, Scizor can reach up to 251 Speed (376 after Scarf), and lets it outspeed +Speed natured Alakazam, Gengar, Dugtrio, Raikou, Azelf, Starmie, Sceptile, Espeon and Infernape. OpinionThe new generation brought a host of fun toys for Scizor, namely Technician, Roost, and myriad items that it can use well. It lost physical Silver Wind, but that is a small price to pay for X-Scissor and U-turn. With Roost and the right EVs, it can happily switch into all sorts of physical attacks, and threaten to setup a sweep. Scizor still lacks the Rock attack to scare Gyarados / Salamence, but underestimate it at your peril. CountersFlying-types, particularly those with a secondary typing that resists Steel. Zapdos' only fear is a CB Double Hit, so he makes a great counter. Gyarados works really well thanks to the same useful Fighting, Steel and Bug resists Zapdos has, but also has the advantage of Intimidate and the ability to Taunt Baton Pass sets that don't carry Agility. Weezing takes most of Scizor's attacks with relative ease and can also Haze away stat boosts. Gliscor works well against the Choice sets, but can struggle to take down the Swords Dance sets that carry Iron Head. Skarmory can switch into any set and either phase Scizor or wear it down with Brave Bird/ Drill Peck. Be careful of a U-turn to Magnezone, however. Fire-types are obviously a good choice to switch in. Charizard and Moltres are particularly good as they also resist Brick Break. Heatran walks all over any Scizor set that doesn't have Brick Break. Suicune can take a boosted hit and phaze away stat boosts. Dusknoir takes hits from everything barring Night Slash and can cripple Scizor with a burn, or simply attack with Fire Punch. Generally, you should be trying to prey on Scizor's low Speed, poor Special Defense and 4x Fire weaknesses. Random hits from Hidden Power Fire are an unpleasant surprise, and pretty much anything with Flamethrower or Fire Blast can dispatch Scizor with ease. |
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